Trice's {Cheerio} Bash

I really like LOVE parties! Mostly, I like planning them and dreaming of them. When it comes to the actual "putting it all together" stage, I panic and become very stressed. Trice's 1st Birthday party was no exception. I have been thinking about his party for a long time. I just think Birthdays are a huge deal and should be celebrated. Usually Benny goes along with my plans but thinks they are extremely excessive. However, he grew up with the most kick-ass Birthday parties and insisted that Trice's be the same. No pressure or anything, right? So pretty much every idea I had, he thought was awesome. 

There are 2 things that make my love for party-planning a bit difficult, stressful, and expensive. 1. We have no crafty-type stores (aka Hobby Lobby) in our town. 2. I'm not crafty. This means I have to dedicate an entire day to going to the city to buy every crafty supply I might possibly need because I won't have a chance to go back (translation: buy the whole store and "return" what you don't need but actually never return it). It also means I rely A LOT on etsy to make my visions come to life. I heart Etsy. I don't heart Etsy's prices. And also, you have to plan in advance. I'm more of a 10 minutes before go time kinda gal. 

**I had never really discovered Dollar Tree before this party. Now, it is officially my best friend - sorry to my human besties. But seriously - everything is $1. It could be dangerous.**

Anyway, Trice's party turned out exactly like I envisioned. Sure, I didn't get the life-sized Cheerio photo prop painted and we didn't get the "name that lunch" game assembled and we didn't print the monthly pictures for the frame or make his first year poster, but other than that I think I got it all finished. And really, who needs a life-sized Cheerio prop anyway!?

I had lots of different ideas for Trice's Birthday and luckily we decided we'd have 2 parties, so I could choose 2 themes. We narrowed it down to 3 and then decided to pick the two things Trice loves most -- Cheerios and Wheels on the Bus. So here's the big Cheerio bash and all the deets ... Yum!

The Invites

There were two different versions - with a removable picture for guests to keep. I'll share the whole Cheerios photo shoot in another post. Imagine the dot on the "i" as a cheerio -- I forgot to do it for the picture. 

 The "King's" Throne

Bib - Gift from cousin, Banner - Made by Me, Crown - Etsy

Favors

Bowl with a mini bag (who knew they don't make mini boxes anymore?) of cheerios, a spoon, and a straw! 

The Food

**To this second, it bothers me that the tables aren't centered in front of the banner. At that point, I was told to "let it go." Ha! Thank goodness for friends who know you so well.**

We had cheerio bars, trail mix, fruit, donuts in powdered sugar, and cake!

Bowl of Cheerios in Milk (Aka donuts and powdered sugar)

Little Chalkboard Pails -- Dollar Bin at Target. Have I ever mentioned how I want to buy the entire Dollar Bin section?

Decor

Happy Birthday Banner made by yours truly

I, unfortunately, didn't get a picture of this table once it was all ready to go .. but you get the idea.

ONE - Letters purchased at Hobby Lobby and I did the ribbons.

Pictures of Trice for the guests to take home

Rather than a guestbook, we had each guest put their predictions for what Trice would be when he grows up in a jar. We are going to save it (or attempt to save it) until he really is grown up and see if anyone is correct. We couldn't resist and read them out loud at the party .. it was pretty funny!

Mason Jars (left over from Robyn's wedding) filled with cheerios and Number 1 candles (on clearance at Walmart) 

Picture of sweet little Trice as a newborn

View of the party

The Cakes

A Cheerios box, of course. Made by Sweet Desires bakery in Corning. I received SO many compliments on how delicious it was. I should have ordered a bigger one so we had leftovers!

I did the one myself - pretty proud. ;)

Give me that cake, guys!

Outfit

So, I totally ordered Trice an outfit for his party. And then, I decided it didn't match the theme and that was a deal breaker. So the night before we left, I threw together this onesie with the "O" looking like a cheerio. 10 minutes before the party I decided it didn't look good and re-made it. OCD much?! 

I don't sew, and I have no intentions of Trice wearing this for anything again - so washing it isn't a concern of mine. I used fabric from walmart, a white onesie he had in in drawer, and fabric glue pens -- much better than fabric glue you squeeze.

The Cake Smash

Guys, what are my cheerios doing on here?!

I'll just pick them off..

Yay, I ate a cheerio!

No time for pictures, folks, there are cheerios on this thing!

Grandma and Grandpa

Love this picture!!

Hey, guys, the show is over here...

SEriously, all eyes on me, please!

The end result.

Trice wanted Uncle Jake to have his own smash cake because he graduates next weekend! Congrats Uncle Jake!

Misc. Deets

We played a Trice trivia game - this was a lot of fun. It was funny to hear some of the answers. Obviously, some of the questions were easier than others. 

We also had a kid's corner with lots of toys and a slideshow to keep everyone entertained! 

We had so much fun at the party and will remember it forever. This has been an amazing year for us -- we are so blessed. We are so thankful for all our friends and family who came to celebrate with us. We seriously would not have survived this year without you. Your love and kindness continues to amaze us. :) 

Happy Birthday Party, sweet baby boy. You are the greatest blessing we have ever received. You have made this last year one we will never forget and we look forward to many, many more Birthday parties.

Now on to the Wheels on the Bus party ... I have approximately 2 days to get everything ready ... entering stress mode - tomorrow!